Game Jargon Definition: “Saving Throw”

Saving Throw (noun) - sav · ing throw /ˈsāviNG THrō/

Within the context of role-playing games and war and miniatures games, a “saving throw” is a roll of a die or dice that a player makes in order to attempt to prevent or mitigate damage from an attack on their character or units. A successful saving throw represents a last-ditch effort that saves a character or unit from an attack—such as a last-minute parry against an incoming melee or a dodge from a projectile weapon. The term was first used in the original Dungeons & Dragons by the now defunct TSR.

In some games, there are limited applications for saving throws, such as saving against only magic or poison attacks, rather than attacks generally speaking. However, this varies significantly from game system to game system and from game edition to game edition. Rather than rolling dice, some games achieve a similar randomized saving throw through other mechanisms, such as drawing cards, contests of luck, or using tables of random results. In roleplaying games, a game master may also bestow a bonus on saving throw rolls to players who come up with creative, thematic, or in-character ways for their characters to protect themselves.